Lifestyle

THE ULTIMATE GIFT

Plastic Surgeon Gives His Mother a Facelift and the Results Go Viral

More than 2 million people admired Linda’s rejuvenated appearance.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedJul 14, 2026, 11:16 AM EDT

UpdatedJul 14, 2026, 11:16 AM EDT

Updated Jul 14, 2026, 11:16 AM EDTPublished Jul 14, 2026, 11:16 AM EDT

Comments

Linda was 69 when she decided it was time to rejuvenate her face. She had lost a significant amount of weight after getting gastric sleeve surgery years earlier and was now bothered by loose skin on her eyelids, face, and neck.

She had only one surgeon in mind to perform her procedure: her son, Beverly Hills-based board-certified plastic surgeon Carl Truesdale.

“She wanted to get what her son does to all these other people that she sees online,” Dr. Truesdale told The Looker. “She wanted me to make her look younger.”

In March 2024, Linda underwent an upper blepharoplasty to remove excess skin from her upper eyelids and a lip lift to shorten the distance between her upper lip and her nose after she felt the distance was becoming elongated. Both of the surgeries were performed by Dr. Truesdale under local anesthesia.

In September, Linda returned for a full makeover, which included a deep plane facelift and a neck lift.

AN UP-LIFTING EVOLUTION

Man Brought to Tears by His Full-Face ‘Midlife Makeover’

Roosa Rahkonen

She also underwent an endoscopic eyebrow lift to smooth her forehead, and a skin pinch blepharoplasty to her lower eyelids to remove excess skin and smooth the skin under her lower lashes.

“I also added fat to her face, strategically,” Dr. Truesdale said.

Operating on his mother did not differ from operating on any other client.

“In medicine, you get into trouble when you start changing what you normally do,” Dr. Truesdale said, explaining that exceptions can lead to unexpected outcomes. “It is a safety matter to make sure you treat everyone exactly the same.”

But Linda’s recovery journey had one major difference to that of Dr. Truesdale’s other clients: “I had a little bit more hands-on in terms of taking care of her after the surgery was done. She was recovering in my back house rather than in a recovery center.”

An Instagram video of Linda’s results got over 120,000 likes.

More than a thousand people commented on the video, especially complimenting her balanced, natural-appearing results.

Dr. Truesdale attributes much of his skills to his art background.

“I’m a portrait artist. The delicate understanding of shape, form, light, and anatomy, those nuanced changes that I do—and obviously all the world-class training that I’ve been able to get—allows me to get these superior results,” he explained.

Dr. Truesdale is also an expert in working with different skin tones. “No one has done more Black facelifts than me,” he said.

Linda loves not only her surgery results but also the attention.

After the video went viral, people recognize her as Dr. Truesdale’s mother.

“She’s like a little celebrity in her own right,” Dr. Truesdale said with a laugh.

SERVING COURTSIDE

These Are the Best Dressed People at Wimbledon 2026

Roosa Rahkonen

Many commenters wrote that Dr. Truesdale deserved a “son of the year” award for giving his mother the ultimate gift, but he was just pleased to be able to help his mother’s confidence “explode.”

“The end result was giving my mom back a face that she hadn’t had for many, many years,” he said.

Adding, “If I were a painter, I would paint her a picture. If I were an architect, I’d build her a house. But for my gift, the thing that I have access to is to restore her face.”

Play Video

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast.